Waste review

Carrying out a waste review

The key steps in carrying out a waste review within a company are to prepare a mass balance. This is achieved by drawing a flow chart showing the main steps in your process in order to develop a process inventory which is a detailed list of your processes. This will enable Input and output inventories to be formulated that focus on the inputs and outputs for each process.

The review will then quantify inputs and outputs to determine the true cost of waste and the potential cost savings from reducing waste. This will enable you to identify costs and rank inputs and outputs in order of cost. Ranking these inputs and outputs will allow prioritising within a waste minimisation programme. Remember, small reductions in a major area could give much greater savings than a large reduction in a minor area.

A waste review is continuous and continual improvement is expected using mass balance as a tool for regular assessments.  

The waste hierarchy: eliminate, reuse, recycle

Eliminate waste: eliminating waste at source is not only the best way to prevent pollution, it is often the most cost-effective option. Rotating chemical stocks and buying only the quantities you need eliminates out-of-date chemicals. Avoid excessive chemical use by weighing chemicals accurately and using automated dosing.

Re-use waste: re-use is less cost-effective than eliminating or reducing waste, but it can still give you cost savings and environmental benefits. Re-use may be either direct or after minimal treatment, eg. filtering through a coarse screen. Segregating different waste streams increases the potential for re-use or recycling. It may also reduce your disposal costs by making the waste easier to treat or subject to lower disposal charges.

Recycle waste: If waste cannot be re-used, consider options for reprocessing, recycling in-house or recycling offsite. A business Waste Directory is available developed with Defra, Environment Agency and the National Farmers Union. This directory provides a means to find people who may require waste and co-products in their processes.